Patients and health workers still are not fully protected, despite frequent changes to the law, ombudsman Velislava Delcheva said at the opening of the forum "Priority: Health - From the Reality of the System to Solutions for its Future", organised by the Bulgarian Medical Association (BMA).
Health care is a especially sensitive topic for people, she said, adding that access to medical help in Bulgaria is easy compared with other European countries.
Complaints point to several problems, Delcheva said: medical facilities are spread unevenly, drugs run short or go missing, and patients face red tape when they are prescribed expensive medication.
Elderly people in remote areas and people with disabilities do not always have guaranteed access to basic care, the ombudsman added.
She also flagged the extra payments patients have to make out of their own pocket, which run higher than in other European countries. The elderly, people on low incomes and people with disabilities are hit hardest.
Complaints about the quality of care keep growing, and some hospitals are in financial trouble, which affects the service they give. Delcheva also pointed to the shortage of doctors and to the lack of staff in emergency care.
"We all count on training doctors to replace those who retire, giving them the chance to specialise, paying young specialists properly, and we expect a strategy to fix these problems," Delcheva said.
She said she is convinced the conclusions from the forum can help shape future policy for good-quality medical care and for protecting the rights of people who work in the system.